Process of tanning



UNTTEn @TATES PATENT OEETQE,

GEORGE \V. IIOUSTON, OF MARIETTA, FLORIDA, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF, FRANK C.RAVESIES, OF OIVENSBOROUGII, AND IVILIIIAM N. FERGUSON,

OI DADE CITY, FLORIDA.

PRocEss oF TANNING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent .No. 623,403, dated April18, 1899.

Application filed July 9,1898. Serial No. 685,565. (Nospecimensd f allwhom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE \V. HOUSTON, of Marietta, in the county ofDuval and State of Florida, have invented a new and Improved Process ofTanning, of which the followingis a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of my invention is to employ as a substitute for red-oak barkor any other tanning agents usually employed an ooze made from a shrubcommonly known as horse-wickey or stagger-bush and botanicallydesignated as Pieris maricma, which material will not only tan leatherin much less time than other material in common use, butis much moreplentiful and eco nomic and will produce a superior grade of leather atless expense.

A further object of the invention is to provide a tanning agent throughthe mediumof which the tanned leather may be given different shades ofcolor, the shading being dependent upon the strength of the ooze and thecharacter of the hide presented for tanning.

The invention consists in the novel steps of the process, to behereinafter more fully set forth, and pointed out in the claims.

The hide to be tanned is trimmed to such an extent that it will be ingood shape and will be freed from all worthless encumbrances, and thehide is then placed in clear water, so as to thoroughly soften it. Asolution is then made, composed, usually, of eight quarts of water andtwo quarts of lime, or enough water to entirely cover the hides, thewater and lime being in about the proportions above mentioned. The hidesare then placed in this solution of lime until the hair slips. Usuallyabout four days are necessary to obo tain this result with favorableweather. In

exceedingly cold weather a longer time is required. The hair is removedfrom the hides after the hides have been taken from the solution oflime, and said hair may be removed by any suitable means-as, forinstance, a currying-knife. The hides are then placed in clear water,and this bath is provided in order to soak out the greater portion ofthe lime from the hides. After the hides have been taken from thiswater-bath they are passed through powerful rollers or subjected toequivalent pressure for the purpose of partially drying the hides andremoving entirely from them all the lime that they may still haveretained. The hides are now in condition to be subjected to the improvedtanning agent, which is an ooze made from an herb known, respectively,as horsewickey, st-agger-bush,aud Pieris man and. The ooze is made byboiling the shrub, including the bark, wood, and leaves, or otherwisetreating the said shrub to extract the strength therefrom in a liquidform. The ooze is made, preferably, very strong. In' fact, it ispreferably a saturated solution of the shrub. In treating the hides withthe improved tanning agent the hides are first placed in vats and arethen soused in the ooze until the hides are covered about four inches.When the ooze is very powerful, the hides should be frequently noticed,and then graded or classed after tanning. When the ooze is strong, tendays will be sufficient for the hides to remain in the ooze. Accordingto the strength of the ooze and the character or nature of the hides thetanned leather will be shaded light or dark, and such shading of theleather can only be accomplished successfully by practice in thisparticular method of tanning. The shades of the leather, however, may bereadily determined by closely watching the hides while in the ooze-bath.If a light-colored leather is desired, the hides are taken out as soonas the desired shade is obtained, and the longer the hides remain in theooze-bath the deeper and darker will be the shade obtained. 4

The amount of Pieris Mariana used may be about one-half pound for everygallon of water; but it will be understood that the 'proportions may bevaried considerably. Further, it will be obvious that the action of thetanning liquor produced from Piem's martcma according to my inventionwill remain substantially the same even when other substances are addedto the tanning liquor as long as such substances do not affect theliquor detrimentally. The appended claims are therefore to beinterpreted as covering the extract of Piem's maricma, used either aloneor with such other ingredients only that the tanning properties andadvantages of such extract will be availed of.

Having thus described my invention, I

7 claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. Theherein-describedmethod of tanning leather,which consists in subjectingthe hides, after preliminary treatment, to a bath containing an oozemade from an herb known as horse-wickey, stagger-bush and Pie- M'smcwiana, substantially as described.

A tanning liquor containing an ooze extracted from an herb kn own ashorse- 11's GEORGE w. HOUSTON.

mark

Witnesses:

GEORGE WALsER, N. Y. BRYAN.

